I always take a hot shower before I go onstage. It's so refreshing. I let the steam into my throat. That's the way I warm up my vocal cords - in the shower. I start by humming and then finally singing.

A banal poem is never more than a banal poem. A banal or trite lyric, however, can be - with the right vocal cords - brilliantly and shatteringly conveyed.

I had really bad polyps on my vocal cords, and I've had them since I was a kid, but the bulimia made it 10 times worse. They were bleeding constantly, and it was straining on my voice. And just the lack of nutrition - my vocal cords couldn't keep up because I was so unhealthy.

I have as many pictures of my vocal cords as I do of my children. I have a great ear, nose and throat doctor, and we look at them - if there's some redness, maybe I'll take a little time off.

And singing is a physical thing - your vocal cords are these muscles.

Crying is really bad for your vocal cords.

People who share the same language, French or Chinese or whatever, have the same vocal cords and emit sounds which are basically the same, as they come from the same throats and lungs.

It's not like you have two sets of vocal cords. You only have one, and if you exhaust it from talking, then you're also affecting your singing.

There is one thing I should say, and it's important: Young Broadway singers and anybody who is an orator of any kind - lawyers who have to speak in court or pastors or anyone who has a lot of stress on their vocal cords: You should do the maintenance. You should do whatever it takes to feel fresh and good.

When I use my vocal cords, it kind of feels like what it feels like when you put your shoes on the wrong foot.

If you go to the gym every day, it's not really good. Your muscles get fatigued. Your vocal cords are muscles - they get burned out, they get tired, so you've got to give them the chance to recover and repair during the night.

I remember my doctors examining my vocal cords and asking if I had an eating disorder, and I instantly said no. But then my mom, who was in the room with me, said my name in her 'mom voice,' and I just lost it. I didn't realize that she knew or that anyone knew.

You can't imitate; all our faces are constructed differently... and the vocal cords; otherwise, we'd all sound alike. I don't think anybody should ever teach by imitating.

When we're upset, our vocal cords tighten and we can't speak. And when I lie - well, I can't lie, because the same thing happens - everyone who knows me knows that when I start squeaking, I've started lying.

I am fussy, about my diet and straining my voice. I know, sounds a bit over the top. But I'm not as bad as I used to be. These days I don't drink alcohol for five days before a show - very dehydrating for the vocal cords, and all that acid reflux. I used to ban it for a fortnight. Nightmare.

Well, any time I'm preparing for a performance or even a rehearsal, it's as if in a way, like any other athletes, these are muscles that support the vocal cords which are just I believe cartilage. It demands a kind of constant warming up and a constant feeling of where is the voice today.

Michael Jackson carried urban America and eventually American society on his vocal cords for a good 25 to 30 years before even hip-hop became the vox populi of America, and then as an adult he shattered racial barriers.

I could imagine at a certain age, when I have no vocal cords left, that I would find a young man who could sing my parts for me. But I don't see why I would stop.

Seventy per cent humidity is ideal for vocal cords.

Because God gave you your makeup and superintended every moment of your past, including all the hardship, pain, and struggles, He wants to use your words in a unique manner. No one else can speak through your vocal cords, and, equally important, no one else has your story.